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We are going on a flight in a HondaJet Elite with Dmitry Petrochenko at the Honda Aircraft plant, which is located in the small American city of Greensboro . The engineers managed to bring to the plane a pleasant cocktail of innovative solutions and impeccable design. “Baby” really attracts to itself, as if saying “become my happy owner.” We write a lot about the HondaJet, but testing the car was a cherished dream. And luck smiled at us. In the early May morning, we stand in front of our “test subject”, who is only “two months old”, at the Honda Aircraft plant, which is located in the small town of Greensboro, North Carolina. And so only we, our board N139HE and the chief pilot of the Peter company, as well as our faithful friends Anna Nazarova (Aim of Emperor) and Maxim Akbaev (Honda Aircraft). Fasten your seat belts, we are going on a flight with Dmitry Petrochenko.<\/i>
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Before the flight<\/b>
Let's start with the fact that the HondaJet Elite is somewhat different from the aircraft of its class already externally. This is noticeable, for example, in the engines that are carried out on the pylons above the wing, which is expressed in a special term – OTWEM – Over-The-Wing Engine Mounts (engine mount above the wing). The patented engine design allows not only to reduce aerodynamic drag, but also to expand the space in the cabin and luggage compartment. Moving towards the left wing, I noticed that Honda engineers removed the middle aileron baffle and small triangular vortex generators from the tips to improve aerodynamics. If you look under the fuselage, you can see that the area of the new protective plate has been significantly reduced. The Elite's center fuel tank has been enlarged to provide 40 kg more fuel.
The air intake of the GE Honda HF120 engines has been modernized: a perforated honeycomb is installed in front of the blades. The perforation acts as a soundproofing baffle, Peter says, absorbing the high-frequency sounds typically heard by passengers, especially when the engines are running at high power and at altitudes below 3,000 meters. Such a seemingly insignificant change reduces the noise level in the cabin to 8 dB, which undoubtedly allows passengers to notice the difference between the models.
The aircraft got rid of the vortex generators on the tail and wings and the T-shaped pad on the elevator, which also became wider by about 18 cm. These changes, along with other aerodynamic improvements, provide a reduction in take-off distance of 135 meters at sea level (more higher levels, the distance increases) and improved climb characteristics in the second segment, which can be significant in cases of hot weather and high altitudes.
In the tail section of the fuselage there is an air brake of the multi-fin tail unit – it is installed at the request of the client as an additional equipment. This is the option of choice for most owners as it allows for steep glide paths up to 6.5 degrees in heavy traffic airports. An example is London City Airport, where the glide path is only 5.5 degrees. Moving to the right tail section, I saw an additional external technical hatch for toilet maintenance. In addition, the design of the only refueling hole, which is located in the aft fuselage and is used to replenish fuel supplies by gravity, has been changed here. To avoid spraying fuel by technical personnel as much as possible in the event of a tank filling up too quickly, an illuminated panel is provided next to the filler neck. Some time before the tank is full, the refueller sees on the panel a signal that it is necessary to reduce the pressure – simply and ingeniously.
Forward visibility from the cockpit is excellent thanks to the radically lowered bow. The total luggage compartment volume (rear and front) has been increased to 1,869 liters, significantly exceeding the offerings of the Embraer Phenom 100EV and Cessna Citation M2. It should be noted, however, that the M2 continues to lead in the weight limit for external luggage, even though Honda has increased this figure to 90 kg. Despite the fact that in most cases the free space for luggage runs out even before the “overweight” occurs, the weight limit sometimes matters.
The line of the side windows is more recessed compared to other models. I asked Peter what was the motivation behind this decision, and he shared some interesting observations that were quite unexpected for me. The increased radius of curvature combined with the shape gives a vertical view as if the windows were larger. And besides, the glare, which is inevitable at high altitudes above the clouds, becomes less. This results in less eye strain and improved readability of the displays, which is very valuable when surrounded by many glass dashboards.
Salon<\/b>
The HondaJet N139 is NOT equipped with almost all available options, including a minibar included with a coffee machine. The noise level in the cabin is reduced not only due to the modernization of the engine intake, but also due to the effective sound insulation and quieter operation of the air conditioning and avionics cooling systems.
The Elite features the industry's first speaker-less in-cabin speaker system from Bongiovi Audio System, delivering total immersion throughout the cabin by placing 24 sound sources on the interior panels. My colleagues and I experienced the system in flight, and I want to note that the sound is really impressive, in the “quiet” cabin all musical nuances are captured. We are heading to the aft fuselage, where there is a toilet room with a passenger seat equipped with a seat belt. This is not just a restroom, familiar to most light aircraft, but a relatively spacious room with two small windows in the ceiling and an additional sink with running water, and there is also a motion sensor. As Peter explained, this is an attempt to move away from the industry standard dark cubicle solution and make the toilet as pleasant as possible for the passenger.
I counted 23 interior trim options. Prices start at $ 5,600 for leather crew seats. For $ 44,500, you get the washbasin package, while the Gogo Talk & Text version will cost you $ 167,900. And you need to remember that when you install one or another option, the payload is reduced.<\/p>\n
In flight<\/b>
The HondaJet Elite features the Garmin G3000 Advanced Integrated Instrument Model. The high-resolution touchscreen instrument cluster and display, as well as the upgraded processors, offer a number of benefits. Some of the new features can be installed on existing equipment with a software update, including a visual glide path indicator with advisory messages, AOA on PFD, clear TAF, altitude limit on MFD, and more. …
The Garmin G3000 Kit contains an update package that includes more sophisticated take-off and landing (TOLD) calculations and predictive performance. The TOLD function displays a net climb and descent gradient in addition to the standard speed and field length calculations. Climb gradients are extremely important in determining whether your aircraft meets departure standards.
The functionality of many aircraft provides pilots with simplified performance data, including flight range, fuel at destination, and travel time. To calculate the indicators, the speed relative to the ground at one point in time is used, which can change during the flight. Elite's performance management system for optimal flight planning takes data from all phases of flight as well as forecast wind data to generate accurate flight information. The G3000 integrates accurate information on the characteristics of wind in the upper atmosphere directly from the meteorological data stream from the Sirius XM receiver. If there is no remote access to weather data, the pilot can enter average wind values for calculations.
The aircraft's advanced avionics system includes advanced automatic flight control (AFCS) functions, automatic stabilization and protection functions to enhance flight safety, and an electronically coupled missed approach with underspeed protection. Now you can use the autopilot throughout the exit to the airfield area, including when re-approaching. The underspeed protection feature reduces the likelihood of unintentional stalls on autopilot by reducing roll to a safe level.
The technique for launching an aircraft is simple: turn on the avionics, initiate checks using electronic checklists (there are more in Elite) and press the “Start” button. Honda GE FADEC will do the rest. Other functions, such as anti-icing and lighting activation at appropriate stages of flight, also operate automatically.
Steering is carried out using an electric booster. One firm press on the pedal to tilt the rudder to the right – and instantly the plane turned 180 degrees. You will quickly catch and appreciate the sensitivity of the electric power steering. After takeoff, we asked Piedmont Triad International Airport Departure Control for permission for a test flight and, having received it, began to take the plane to an altitude of 11,277 meters in the direction of Charlotte, simultaneously analyzing the operation of flight systems. In manual control mode, the aircraft demonstrated stable controllability even at high altitudes.
Peter told me about Cruise Speed Control (CSC), an interesting feature that can be described as a simple autothrottle, but with an electronic digital engine control (FADEC) system. When the function is activated, the speed parameters are corrected in a narrow range. While it doesn't make much sense to make large step changes in the function, I found that making small adjustments to speed would not hurt in high wind conditions or speed limits. The Elite has a maximum altitude of 13,100 meters, a speed of 422 knots and a fuel consumption of 1,090 pounds per hour at 11,277 meters, making the aircraft the fastest in its class. In practice, pilots often fly much higher.<\/p>\n
Everything passed quickly, and the moment has come to return to the air harbor. We were assigned PINGG 1. I created a descent plot with new features including profiling on the MFD display, which also shows altitude limits. It turned out to be easy to use the TOLD data necessary for planting – all the necessary information is at hand. The Honda Aircraft team can only applaud, their brainchild is a great engineering solution!
Improved performance<\/b>
As a HondaJet Elite pilot, you will notice small changes in cruising performance, the flight range has increased by 370 km, the take-off distance has decreased, the climb performance (the qualitative changes are especially significant in this part) have become better. Analyzing the effect of modernization on the example of departure from Greensboro (Piedmont Triad International Airport), we considered two scenarios: for 19 deg. and for 27 deg. At 19 deg. both models maintain their maximum takeoff weight at takeoff, while the Elite's takeoff distance is almost 335.28 meters less. At 27 deg. the difference is even more significant. The Elite can take off with a weight of over 453 kg, and at the same time, the take-off distance will be 182 meters less. With a fuel capacity of 1315 kg, the operational potential of the vehicle becomes highly dependent on the performance and safety parameters in the runway and side strips.
Offers for HondaJet Owners<\/b>
Honda Aircraft is offering 92 HondaJet owners an upgrade to the APMG group – almost all of the features of this group are included in the Elite. Aerodynamic improvements for the tail section, ailerons and tips will cost $ 250,000, as well as an increase in maximum take-off weight of 45 kg, more weight without fuel and some software updates for the G3000 avionics kit. Because the Elite features the latest generation of G3000 displays and autopilot, features such as route overlay and aeronautical map display, increased stability, and underspeed protection are not available.<\/p>\n
The upgrade package does not include noise insulation due to the modernization of the engine at the intake, the fuel capacity will also remain the same. However, with the upgrade package, a HondaJet owner will notice an increase in range of approximately 185 kilometers at optimum cruising speed and an overall improvement in performance. If you would like to improve the flight performance of your aircraft in certain situations, you should definitely purchase the upgrade package.
The HondaJet Elite offers the customer a range of enticing features that are not available in many business jets today. The list price of $ 5.5 million (which implies a set of the most popular options) is higher than that of direct competitors. As with all aircraft decisions, the determining factors here are the total cost of ownership and your actual conditions and objectives, including technical range.
To be continued\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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